‘Speak Out, Don’t Stay Silent’: the ‘GOVORY’ experience at a conference in Ivano-Frankivsk

Natalia Tarnovska, head of projects and programs in the Education direction at the UCU Child Dignity Centre, took part in the regional conference ‘Speak Out, Don’t Stay Silent: How to Create a Culture of Safety in Education’ in Ivano-Frankivsk. She spoke about creating a safe educational environment, using the ‘HOVORY’ project as an example.

The conference was dedicated to combating sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), preventing sexual harassment and developing comprehensive sex education.

The aim of the event, organised on 16 September by the NGO ‘D.O.M.48.24’, was to overcome the fragmentation in approaches to safety and to shift the focus from responding to individual incidents to a systematic institutional policy. According to the organisers, the aim is to establish sustainable mechanisms for cooperation between all those involved in the educational process in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.

During the conference, the experts discussed how to prevent sexual harassment and violence, how to implement policies to combat discrimination and sexual harassment in educational institutions, and the role that comprehensive sex education plays in preventing violence.

“We greatly value such events, as they provide an opportunity to share our experience of creating a safe and child-friendly educational environment, as well as to hear about the experiences of other communities. It was pleasing to see the interest shown by educators in the Ivano-Frankivsk region in the practical tools and approaches we have incorporated into the ‘HOVORY’ project. We hope that this meeting will mark the start of a fruitful new collaboration, and that ‘HOVORY’ will be rolled out in educational institutions across Ivano-Frankivsk region,” emphasised Nataliia Tarnovska.

She thanked the conference organisers for providing a platform for such important discussions on child safety, the prevention of violence and respect for children’s voices.

In addition to Nataliia Tarnovska from the UCU Child Dignity Centre, experts from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the NGO “Divchata” and the NGO “YurFem” shared their experiences with conference participants.

The conference formed part of efforts to develop a joint approach to safety in educational institutions in the Ivano-Frankivsk region — with clear rules, straightforward response procedures and accountability for all parties involved.